


Home Is Wherever I'm With You

by therestisjustconfetti



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Soulmates, True Love, a short little story of a moment in their life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:09:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27128365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therestisjustconfetti/pseuds/therestisjustconfetti
Summary: The first night that Dani and Jamie spend together in their new apartment.
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie
Comments: 5
Kudos: 306





	Home Is Wherever I'm With You

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so thrilled that people have enjoyed my other fics! It really has been a long time since I've felt compelled to write anything like this but these characters and their love have settled itself so deeply in my soul that I find it impossible to stray from thinking of them. 
> 
> Here's another short but sweet story that I hope you'll enjoy! We can all use a bit more happiness for these characters.

Vermont was such a lovely place to settle down. And so far away from Bly Manor. A world away, it felt. But it's where Dani and Jamie ended up and it's where they felt at peace, where they began a beautiful new life together. The apartment search lasted for a week or two, as both women were eager to find a place to put down some kind of roots. It was harder for Dani to envision a future somewhere, with the low and quiet hum in her body always reminding her of what may lie ahead, but Jamie made choices for them and it helped. 

Dani had always felt out of place - in her hometown, in Bly, in her life as a whole. But when she was with Jamie, regardless of where they were, she knew and she felt in her heart that she belonged somewhere. 

Home was not a place, home was a person. Home was Jamie. 

Finding a place to call their own, a safe haven of sorts, was something they both wanted to do and when they found the apartment with the beautiful windows in the kitchen and all the space for plants and books and art, they knew it was for them. They signed a lease, collected the keys, and it was all theirs. They didn't need somewhere big or flashy, they just needed somewhere they could disappear to and they had found it. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere safe. 

Neither had come from England with much and that felt nice because it meant getting to start fresh. It meant getting to start from scratch, all on their own. There was something truly special about getting to fill the space together, it was the start of building a life together. It would be the perfect combination of both of them. Airy and bright, lush and green. Soft and strong. 

The apartment, save for some kitchen appliances, was completely bare which meant they would need to furnish it. Furnishing it would take time and Dani did her best not to dwell on the concept of time and how slowly or quickly they could accomplish certain tasks, but Jamie was always there to slide her hands around her waist and whisper in her ear whenever uncertainty began to creep up. 

Jamie could always see it on Dani’s face. She would know when she felt scared or a little lost in herself. It was only ever slightly, but she could see it and feel it. 

"You’re here, I’m here. Day by day, Poppins. Day by day," Jamie would say and Dani would take a long deep breath, letting those words soak in. 

The day they got their keys, they had gone through the effort to drag just a mattress and some blankets into the apartment so they’d have something to sleep on for the night. Building a bed would be a project they’d tackle later in the week, a project that Jamie insisted she felt confident in taking on. Insisted it would be an easy job.

Both of them now say on that mattress on the floor of what would soon be the living room, surrounded by take out containers and a nearly empty bottle of wine. Laughter floated through the bare space and Dani felt calm. She felt secure. 

“So, have any ideas for this place yet?” Dani asked. 

Jamie stood up and began to wander around the room.

“I want to build some shelves up here,” she said and used her hands to point out places on the wall where she wanted things to be. “And I want a nice comfortable chair over here by the window, could be a little reading nook with some natural light.” 

Dani started to see the room coming to life. She saw the furniture and the fixtures and all of the little intricacies that make a place yours. She pictured Jamie sitting in that chair by the window, dozed off with a book nestled against her chest. She pictured them moving around one another fluidly as they cooked their meals and planned their days. 

“And what about over here?” Dani asked and got up off the mattress. She moved towards the kitchen and walked through a doorway beside the island, coming to a stop in front of the stove. 

Jamie followed and narrowed her eyes as she came to stand beside Dani. “Definitely some kind of vines up there above the cupboards,” she said and pointed up, “something that could hang down and really take advantage of the light through the window by the fridge.”

They had a natural pull of gravity towards one another and Jamie instinctively reached for Dani’s hand, pulling her close against her side. “Can you see it?”

Dani smiled as Jamie wrapped an arm around her torso. “Mmhmm, I can see it. It’s beautiful.”

Jamie turned to look at Dani and their eyes met. Neither had ever said much about the change in Dani’s eyes, it had gone unspoken and would remain that way. A mystery that wasn’t much of a mystery because Dani knew. She knew right away, and without understanding why or how, Jamie knew too. But it didn’t change how Dani looked at Jamie, her eyes were always filled with wonder and adoration. That’s what Jamie saw now and she never wanted to lose that. 

“You’re beautiful,” Jamie said and reached up to brush some hair behind Dani’s ear. “I swear you bet more beautiful every day.”

Dani shyly ducked her head down. “Oh, stop.”

“No, I mean it Poppins. I don’t know how ya do it, but ya do. I remember that day you had Miles and Flora pulling out weeds from my garden. I was sitting with Hannah and...”

Dani tensed a little bit upon hearing the name and Jamie slid her arm down to her waist and under the hem of her shirt so she could stroke the soft skin by her hip. 

“Owen brought us drinks and I said jokingly that I thought you might be a bit too pretty. Hannah laughed me off and said I was just fooling around, but I meant it.”

“That feels like another lifetime ago, doesn’t it?” Dani asked and rested her head against Jamie’s shoulder. 

“A lot has changed, but what I think of you never has. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I thought I had never seen anyone so captivating in my whole life.”

“I felt the same way.”

Jamie kissed the top of Dani’s head and turned so she was hugging her. “”How lucky am I then, hmm? The prettiest girl I’d ever seen ended up with the gardener.”

“Shh,” Dani replied. “You were never just the gardener and you know that. You were family. You are family.”

Both of their thoughts turned to ones of Bly and all that they had left behind and Jamie knew the mood needed to be lightened. She slid her hands back down to Dani’s waist and up under the hem of her shirt again and started to lightly tickle the skin her fingers met. 

“Stop!” Dani said with a laugh and tried to pull away out of Jamie’s grasp. 

“Sorry, what was that? Couldn’t hear ya, Poppins,” Jamie said as she moved her hands up to Dani’s sides. Dani laughed again and tried once more to wiggle herself free, failing miserably. 

“You know how ticklish I am!” She shouted. 

“Don’t think I do, actually. Let’s give it a real good go to find out.”

Laughter again moved freely throughout the apartment and Dani was finally able to get away from Jamie’s persistent hands only to have Jamie chase after her and pin her against a wall with her hands above her head. 

“Some nice walls in this place, don’t ya agree?” Jamie asked, her face just mere inches from Dani’s. “Lot’s of nice places to get you up against so I can do this.”

Jamie closed the gap between them and kissed Dani, who was all for the brunette taking charge of the moment. Dani let out a quiet hum of appreciation and Jamie smiled into the kiss. 

Jamie pulled away slightly and Dani naturally followed, chasing her lips. She blinked open her eyes to see Jamie smirking at her. 

“You’re so mean,” Dani said as Jamie let her arms fall from above her to her sides. She rolled her eyes sarcastically. 

“Just thought I stop to should see if you had more interesting plans for the evening. Didn’t want to take you away from more interesting plans.”

Now it was Dani’s turn to take charge and she quickly spun them so Jamie now had her back against the wall. 

“I’ve got a lot of interesting plans, lots and lots,” Dani said and moved her lips to Jamie’s ear. “But see, all of them involve you. So no, you don’t need to stop.”

“Ah, well I’m sort of bored of ya now. Maybe I’ll just go lie down on that mattress and turn in for the night,” Jamie replied. “We’ve got a big week ahead of us, Poppins.”

Dani fakes offence and goes to turn around and walk away but Jamie grabs her by the wrist and pulls her back so their bodies are flush against one another. 

“I am glad we’re here, Dani,” Jamie said. “I mean it. Chuffed to bits about the whole thing. I can’t wait to build a life with you here and I know what you want to say to that and you know what I’d say right back but just for a second, I need to say that a life with you is all I want and I want you to really hear it.”

She does really hear it. And she wants the same thing. She wants it so badly it hurts.

“I hear you,” Dani says and then she’s crying and Jamie is leading them over to the mattress. 

Jamie sets aside the food containers and the wine bottle and lowers herself down onto the mattress. She guides Dani down with her and they lay on their sides facing one another. 

It’s quiet for a moment as they gaze at one another and Jamie leans into Dani and kisses her on the forehead. “I think your first job in this place is to find somewhere for all those knit jumper’s you’ve got. I didn’t even realize how many you had.”

This earns her a laugh and Dani smiles widely, the tears now lost. 

“I mean honestly, Poppins. They all sort of look the same.”

Dani continues to laugh and Jamie soaks up every bit of the sound. Happiness for them was something she never wanted to take for granted and a laugh or a smile from Dani? That was a true gift. 

Finally the laughter and the jokes subsided and Dani cuddled into Jamie’s side, as close as she physically could. Because Jamie was her home, and she had been homesick for years. So far away from a place of peace and from quiet and distance could bring her back to that place. She didn’t ever want to go back there. 

“We have so much work to do around here,” Dani said. “Where do we even start?”

“I’ve got a few ideas,” Jamie said, sliding her leg into between Dani’s and trailing her fingers up her thigh. 

“Oh I bet you do,” Dani said with a laugh and gave into Jamie completely.

They fell asleep that night curled into eachother and nothing would ever feel more perfect. How truly lucky a person is when they find the one that makes everything better, the one who makes everywhere feel like it’s home. For Dani and Jamie, many nights would follow and those nights would be filled with love and happiness and peace, in a place that would become so unequivocally their own.


End file.
